"Citizen science is a term used for projects or ongoing program
of scientific work in which individual volunteers or networks of volunteers,
many of whom may have no specific scientific training, perform or manage research-related
tasks such as observation, measurement or computation.
The use of citizen-science networks often allows scientists to accomplish research
objectives more feasibly than would otherwise be possible. In addition, these
projects aim to promote public engagement with the research, as well as with
science in general. Some programs provide materials specifically for use by
primary or secondary school students. As such, citizen science is one approach
to informal science education." (Source: Wikipedia)
More about the importance of Citizen Science:
"The first federal State of the Birds report was released (Mar
2009), marking the beginning of an unprecedented collaboration between government
researchers and conservation groups — and the underlying data comes from
you.
"The data that goes into this report is by and large not collected by
a few tin-head scientists or conservation organizations, but by millions of
individuals," said John Fitzpatrick, director of the Cornell University
Laboratory of Ornithology. "We can begin to put together spectacularly
massive databases that show us, in great detail with fine-grained scope, what
the trends are."
The trends identified by the report are generally known. Hundreds of bird species are threatened by habitat loss, pollution and climate change. But in other ways, the report is novel. "It's a break from the one-institution, or handful-of-institution, approach," said Cornell University ornithologist Andrew Farnsworth. "This kind of partnership hasn't happened before." http://www.boingboing.net/2009/03/19/federal-state-of-the.html
Let the webmaster know about other opportunities that you discover and would like to see listed here.
"Who's Whoo-ing" In Your Backyard? A Citizen Science Study on Suburban Owls coordinated by Mianus River Gorge Preserve in Bedford.
USA National Phenology Network (read more about citizen science at Tom Friedman's blog) This project seeks to document climate change by recording dates of seasonal event (Project budburst, and others) Did you hear the NPR Science Friday broadcast about the Phenology Network?
Cornell Lab of Ornithology (My Yard E-Bird, Project FeederWatch, NestWatch, House Finch Disease Survey, others)
New York-New Jersey Trail Conference (older links, but new opportunities coming soon)
Amphibian Migrations and Road Crossings
The NYSDEC Hudson River Estuary Program, in partnership with Cornell University,
are coordinating an amphibian migration survey. By documenting "Big
Night" migrations and road crossings, volunteers can contribute to the
conservation of woodland pool breeding amphibians in the estuary watershed.
Spring rains are coming! For more info, see Woodland Pool Conservation: http://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/52325.htmland
Amphibian Migrations and Road Crossings: http://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/51925.html
Global Garlic Mustard Field Survey
